To a small slice of the hot rodding world, performance matters above all else. Whether it’s modding a lawn mower or a Studebaker, job one is making it fast, and if there is any cash left over, then maybe we’ll make it look cool. It’s a mantra that leads quite a few gearheads to build sleepers or beaters. A fast car or truck with just the right amount of patina or straight-up rust doesn’t need a $10,000 paintjob or a powdercoated chassis to draw a crowd or elicit an ear-to-ear grin from its owner. A stupid-quick lap time will suffice and in many cases, overshadow a lesser-performing show car. It’s a lot like cooking; you can put as much food coloring in weak sauce as you want, but it will still leave you hungry for the good stuff.

Brian Schimmel certainly gets it and the proof is in the timeslips. While most of the lawn chair and spray wax set will choose an F-100 for a pickup project and drop six figures at a custom shop to make it shine, Brian saw the beauty in a seriously beat ’55 Chevy and let the elements take care of the bodywork. With the exception of carefully punched holes in the tailgate that save weight as much as make a statement, Brian put zero effort into the exterior of his hot rod and instead dumped his cash where it counted most: the chassis and drivetrain. It took the electrician six years and $40,000 to dial in the perfect blend of power and traction to make this truck a standout, but it was worth it. On a full pull nitrous pass, the heavy Chevy will scream into the 8s, which leaves most people scratching their heads and wanting to know how he did it. Isn’t that the point?

It is like driving a 4x4 sheet of drywall down the track, aerodynamically!Brian Schimmel

The bulk of the bread that went into this truck was spent with Rod & Competition Specialties on the adjustable suspension and with C&S Performance of Butler, Wisconsin, on the thumper under the hood. The 555ci big-block sports a GM Bow Tie block bored to 4.560 inches and stuffed with a quarter-stroke Callies Magnum crank, Oliver billet steel rods, and JE slugs. CFE Racing Products BMF 350 heads yield 13.4:1 static compression with 121cc CNC-finished chambers and are fitted with stainless valves and Jesel shaft-mount rocker arms. The cam is extra medium in size and stout in duration (0.877 intake/0.799 exhaust lift, 286 intake/306-degree exhaust duration, 116-degree centerline) and rolls beneath Isky Red Zone lifters. Pro Filer's Sniper single-plane intake is topped with a Braswell 1,150-cfm Dominator carb modified by Paul Tadin. An Aeromotive A2000 pump and twin Holley 12-803 regulators feed the engine and NOS Pro Shot nitrous system. The engine is backed by a Terry Sielaff TH400.